Hello all

[moe.red]

I have a bunch of questions about my current grow, and ideas and things I want to implement into my hydroponics system. I'll eventually get to writing something up.

But rather than create a bunch of new threads I figure I'd just ask about one of them here.

Has anyone ever used one of these types of fluid level sensors?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09B384C6B

I bought one, and a little dongle board with a precision circuit that converts the mA current output into a 0-5v signal to feed into a micro processor input - I plan to use an Arduino to test with.

I'm not sure if stuff in my reservoir, like air stoles, my wort coil, or bio filter will mess with it or not. I'll test it in another empty bucket of water to see how it works and how accurate it is. Then if it interferes with the stuff in my reservoir I might just plumb in an additional bulkhead (2-3"), toss on a PVC 90 degree elbow and tube going up and drop it in.

If all goes well, I'll then use one of the free gpios on my atlas-scientific hydroponics logger to send the data to another channel on ThingSpeak. Then if all that works well I'll use the data and another free gpios to control a solenoid controlled valve to maybe use for automatic topping off of that reservoir.

They can be a little bouncy with the bubbles and pumps. It will work, but I would put some code on the arduino to level out the readings. Kinda like a switch bounce sub.

There is an easier way if you just want to auto top off in your res - let gravity be your friend.

Amazon.com

 

[Diverge]

They can be a little bouncy with the bubbles and pumps. It will work, but I would put some code on the arduino to level out the readings. Kinda like a switch bounce sub.

There is an easier way if you just want to auto top off in your res - let gravity be your friend.

Amazon.com

I'm familiar with switch bounce. Thanks for the heads up!

I knew about the top off system you linked to, or similar ones. But I kinda wanted the data, so I can sync it up with my other data and see how much the plants are drinking in relation to pH, EC, temp changes and time of day.

 

[moe.red]

I'm familiar with switch bounce. Thanks for the heads up!

I knew about the top off system you linked to, or similar ones. But I kinda wanted the data, so I can sync it up with my other data and see how much the plants are drinking in relation to pH, EC, temp changes and time of day.

I like where you are going with this

 

[SiamSam]

Hey Moe, I'm glad I found you all. It may have took a little work, but it was worth it.

I may of bought it back then, but this is my first time using a DO probe. I had a bunch of issues with it. Basically they sent me a defective one, but I didn't find out to almost a year later since I didn't know the value it was outputting uncalibrated indicated something was wrong - it read 0.03 on dry air and it should have been around 9.0 I think. I was planning to redo all my plumbing, so I procrastinated a lot since I really didn't need to start another grow. So it sat in the box after initial setup and testing the data logging to Thing Speak.

The owner gave me a hard time about replacing it after he said he was gonna send a replacement for free but then noticed my order was from 8 months ago. I think he was bullshitting me about saying it was normal to have white milky electrolyte fluid, since the replacement fluid is pretty much clear, and from what I read, as it absorbs oxygen over time and likely turns white and gets ruined if not maintained properly. He told me to buy a new one and he'd hand test it. I told him no thanks.

I was annoyed and wasn't about to buy a new one. Then one day I decided to disconnect the DO probe, load new Arduino code w/o the DO probe, and remove that channel in Thing Speak. Then I found data dating back to when I bought it, outputting the same 0.03 defective value. So I emailed him one more time showing him the screenshots of the data with timestamps to prove it was defective. I said if I was trying to scam him I'd have ordered a new one and just swapped them out, that he should do the right thing. He changed his mind and said he'd hand test one and send it out the next day. He didn't until I reminded him days later. Then he finally sends a replacement and it's messed up in different ways. The SMA connector wasn't crimped and would fall off. It didn't output the right values for dry air, but at least wasn't stuck. It had white chunks in he electrolyte fluid. I emailed him about it and he never replied.

I bought more replacement electrolyte fluid but haven't gotten around to flushing it to see if I can get it working correctly.

RoBERTs Rule of Order..... ANY Discussions about PROBES should be in our UFO UAP section. Discussions about precious Bodily Fluids should be in our Dr Strangelove section.

Sorry for the long post.

TLDR, don't buy atlas-scientific DO probes... their other probes works good though.

 

[moe.red]

RoBERTs Rule of Order..... ANY Discussions about PROBES should be in our UFO UAP section. Discussions about precious Bodily Fluids should be in our Dr Strangelove section.

We have a Dr Strangelove section? Guess I got some catching up to do.

 

[Bandit420]

Two years ago I joined another forum and came across some guys really into science and technology. I really enjoyed reading their posts and learning from them, since I am also a big tech geek.

Then like a year later, when I was starting my 2nd grow I noticed one of my favorite tech type guys disappeared. Not sure what he drama was all about, but I was sad.

40 days ago I started my 3rd grow and noticed a few other people I followed had disappeared as well. So I began searching the internet for them. I thought I found you guys on ICMAG, so I registered only to find out no activity since April. I searched more and low and behold it looks like I found the new home you all created.

Anyway, I'm happy have found you guys!

My setup is currently as follows:
4x4 tent
Scynce Raging Kush II w/ Echo Air, apogee epar sensor, and temp and humidity sensor as a failsafe.

Between each grow I try to improve my system to make my life easier. Eventually I want to automate everything.

For this grow I added a closed loop chiller, going through a wort coil w/antifreeze. And also added Atlas-Scientific hydroponics senors (pH,EC, Temp, DO) through a PVC tee manifold right off the pump. And switched to Jacks 321.

Right on Diverge! Happy you joined the Bud Builder Familia!
I'm always fascinated by people integrating tech and automation into growing good pot. Makes for fun reading and exploring new ideas very fun!

And now that we've met I gotta ask...beans or no beans in your chili?

 

[moe.red]

Right on Diverge! Happy you joined the Bud Builder Familia!
I'm always fascinated by people integrating tech and automation into growing good pot. Makes for fun reading and exploring new ideas very fun!

And now that we've met I gotta ask...beans or no beans in your chili?

@Diverge if you haven’t met bandit he’s pretty advanced. His lighting control is on point. You should check out his grows.

 

[SiamSam]

We have a Dr Strangelove section? Guess I got some catching up to do.

Um...well we can start one as soon as General Bat Guano joins the brave bud builders.